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Month: January 2016

“ My dog is showing undesired / unwanted behavior, what did I do wrong? ”

Why is this the most important rule when owning a dog? Simple… Because a dog does not wake up every morning and thinks “Hmmm, how I can ruin my owner’s life today.” A dog does however wake up each morning with the attitude of “What worked before, will work now.”

So what does that mean? It means that when your dog does something, shows you something and behaves in a certain manner that he does that because you have either fed him the behavior, or have allowed him to do it to begin with. A dog is a fairly simply creature to be honest. They really are not that hard to get the hang of if you simply use common sense. That common sense tho? Hard and elusive for most owners. Why tho? Why is it so hard to be straight to the point with your dog? It is the easiest thing in the world if you just keep one thing in mind….

“Your dog is NOT HUMAN!”

That’s it! That is all you have to remember each and every time your dog does something you do not like or agree with. Treat it like a dog and it will respond like a dog. It really is that simple! Does it differ per breed? Sure it does. One breed needs more strength in actions from the owner then the other breed does. A working line Malinois or Dutch Shepherd per example, will have much more will and character to push you to your limits then an average pet dog, bred for purely pet purposes. And that brings us to the second problem with dog owners… Getting a dog that you should not own. What do I mean with that? Well… It seems to me that more and more people are getting a dog for the wrong reasons, from the wrong breed, with the wrong ideas about how it should be raised or what should be done with it. It has become a rule more than an exception to see an owner pop up somewhere with the question “My dog growls at people / My dog bites me / my dog snaps at me / my dog resource guards / my dog is starting to scare me / I don’t trust my dog anymore.” And this is just a small out take of what gets asked daily. There are so many more varieties of these questions that it makes your head spin. My first question to these people is always the same. “What sort of training does the dog get, or did he get?” And my most gotten reply to that is “No training, he is a family member and home protection.” So I sit there, biting back my anger, trying to find a way to tone down my reply to these people asking questions, knowing that they will not like my answers to them. My first answer will always be this…

“Want a companion and friend to train with, get a dog! Want protection? Buy a GLOCK!”

This is the new rage, a working line dog to protect your home, that plays with the kids, loves people, can sniff out danger, protects the baby, lays in the yard and keeps your family and home safe from all evil doers. In simple words “A killing machine that hugs trees in its spare time”

Now let me let all you first time owners, and new owners in on a secret… They do not exist that way. They do not climb out of the womb, salute and prepare to slay dragons for you. It requires work. Long and hard work. Time, effort, money, smart thinking, logic, patience, common sense, did I say time yet? A dog does not get born with all the commands logged into its brain. It does not know what you want and or expect from it. It is your task and responsibility to teach the dog that. Not to have him figure it out on its own. And trust me when I tell you this… the dog WILL start figuring it out on his own and you will not like what he comes up with! You need to lay down some ground rules for the dog to follow. No, not human rules… dog rules! Rules that make sense to him! You do not want him to bite you tomorrow? You do not allow it today! What looks cute as a pup, is not as funny in an adult dog. Your first thought when wanting to own a dog should be “Where can I find information on the breed I want, and are there trainers in my area to help me out.” You should prepare yourself for owning a dog. You do not bake a cake without looking up the instructions first, you do not buy a dog without thinking ahead either! Every single thing that your dog does that you do not agree with is something you created by not being clear to your dog in what you expect from it. Action is consequence! That is how a dog works. I do this, that happens, lesson learned. I eat the rug, I get removed from rug and given a chew toy, I return to eating the rug later. What did the dog learn? Rug means toy! I nip at my owner in play, I get redirected to a toy or tug. What did the dog learn? Bite owner means toy! You are not teaching him not to chew your rug, or your arm. You are only redirecting the problem but not fixing it. He eats the rug? NO, remove from rug, make him sit or give him a command to work with. He does what you asked? REWARD!!!! He goes back to rug? REPEAT! Rome wasn’t built in one day people!

Owning a dog is far more than just feeding it and walking it. It is a very long responsibility that is costly but fun! It takes up large amounts of time to train and teach the dog. It is a marathon, not a sprint. Show your dog respect… dog worthy respect. If it needs to be corrected? Correct it! There is nothing wrong with physical correction. It should however fit the crime. Anyone can abuse a dog, raising and training it are a completely different story tho. A happy and well balanced dog is a dog that knows his place. Why? Because you do not have to walk after it the entire day as you tell it to “ NO, leave it, stop, put that down, don’t bite me, let that go, don’t eat that, that is NOT a toy, move over, step aside, get out of my way.” This will drive you, and your dog nuts! He will never get the chance to mentally relax, always looking for verification with you. A dog that knows his place will not be under foot constantly. He knows what you want from him and does not feel the need to verify everything constantly…

What is the best advice I can leave you with? Think before you own! Do you really want a dog? It will still be there in 10 years! It will get sick, break things, have its own mind at times, need attention, love, training…. Does the dog you want suit your needs? Do not get a dog because it’s such a cool breed! Get a dog that suits what you are looking for! If you are looking for a family pet, for fun, but not too active, then do not get a dog from working lines! It will drive you, and your dog crazy! Get a breed that suits the low drive you are looking for. Just because you like a certain breed doesn’t mean you should own it! Too many owners have went before you too many dogs have paid the price by ending up in rescues, shelters or getting put to sleep. Think before you own and never forget that crucial rule number 1. Whatever your dog shows you in behavior is there because of you, not because of the dog!

Where to start? This morning I was surprised to find in my PM box on FB the following message: “You have a new hate page!” So I checked the link that was enclosed and low and behold, there was my face, and my name… and the names of everyone on my friendslist on Facebook, all pasted together in one big jumble of fictitious artwork! Bright red lettering across the artwork exclaiming “The Alice Mackenzie Verhagen wall of shame. Alice Verhagen is using all these people to spread her lies.” This page funnily is named “Clearing up the Confusion.”

So I sat here, and first I laughed at it all. Then I got intrigued as to what was posted there. So I read, and read some more and it soon became clear to me that nothing on the page was in any way factual, but all derived from hear say. The page was set up not to clear up confusion, but to create more! It’s sole purpose of existence was to point fingers wrongly and to divert attention away from the issue’s that have been haunting Lisa & Jeanie Phillips. That issue being, people asking questions about Rambo, the funding, the numbers, the transparency, the lies and the lack of forthcoming or answering of questions. It is already well known that Lisa has built her entire empire on the suffering of Rambo and his many unnecessary and preventable surgeries. She even went as far as to set up funding requests, asking for no less than $30.000,= to pay her living expenses, put food on her table, pay her utilities and all under the guise of helping retired working dogs… No one can refute the funding request since she even made a YouTube video of the whole charade. This is not me, grabbing at fictional straws people! THIS IS FACT!! The video is posted on this page under another article about Sgt Rambo N577 so feel free to check it out!

Back to the point tho… The Confusion page… It was not set up to clear the confusion, it was set up as a clear and blatant attack on my character. Funny thing tho? I welcome it! I do not hide from it at all. I invite everyone to visit the page and take a good look at it and to make up their own minds. I even Private Messaged Lisa about it to inform her that her facts are in fact incorrect. But I do not think it will stop her from trying to present fantasy as fact, it hasn’t stopped her in the past when she created the first hate group against me a month ago, and then added all my friends to that group, who then came to me to inform me of said group. I will be posting a screenshot of that group as well for verification. See what happened there? I stated FACT!! And I then proceeded to back up that fact with PROOF! I also replied to posts on that page, and screenshotted these replies, which of course I will be posting as proof of the fact.

…. where am I going with all this? Am I upset or angry over the page? Nope. Am I angry over the fiction posted there? Nope. So why on gods green earth am I writing this article about it then? Well…. Let me explain that one clearly. This page keeps telling people I am the owner and creator of the Rambo Retired and Suffering page. I am not the owner, I am not the creator. I never was, and never will be. You can claim it a million times, it does not make it true. But maybe if you yell it loud enough people will think it is true, right? Am I an admin on that page? Yes, I was made an admin of that page. Am I the only admin on that page? Nope, plenty of other admins on that page and I mean PLENTY!!!! So who are the other admins? They are just run of the mill people, who share the same worries and cares about Rambo as that I do. I will not name them. I refuse to name them. I respect their wishes and their privacy in this. I will say this tho? I have come to know each and every admin on that page as respectable and upstanding people. I will vouch for each and every one of them. That doesn’t mean their names should be out there tho. Does the message become less important because of the bringer of that message? No, it does not!

So what does this all tell you? About me? About Lisa & Jeanie Phillips? About Rambo and his continued suffering? It tells you that I have nothing to hide, that Lisa & Jeanie Phillips will do anything and everything they can to divert people away from the truth, even using lies to do so, and that Rambo will continue to suffer for it…. I stand by my words, I always have, and I always will. I do not change my opinions to suit others and I do not bend to the use of words like “Bully, Bullying.” To use words like that, to get out from under people’s scrutiny and questions is just plain sad! If I call bully hard enough, people will feel sorry for me! Yeah, right! Or they just might see the truth. The truth that some are so desperately trying to hide from everyone.

Now…. I have one last thing to address before ending this article. There is a screenshot out there, with my name on it, that says “ I’ve hit my dogs and I don’t hide it.” This is the only thing that seems to work for them it seems, or so they think. It is a PM on FB to a person in the UK and it is one small line from a very large conversation. I want to explain it tho, so that people know where I stand on this. I trained dogs in KNPV, this means I do not work or handle the easiest dogs in the world. They are temperamental at best, down right assholes at worst. Does this mean I beat and hit them at the drop of a dime? Nope. It just means I do not take shit from the dogs I work with. The conversation this snip it came from was about dogs biting owners and the appropriate response to this happening. Well, most of you know I am not a softhearted trainer or a soft handed one. I will physically correct a dog if the need is there. Does this mean I beat them with sticks or abuse them 24/7/365? Nope, it just means that if you sink your teeth in my body I will kick your ass in payment. Action begets reaction. It is that simple. I do not wait a dog out, I do not ask, I do not create grey areas for the dog to explore. You act, I react, lesson learned, we move on. So take from that what you will. This is what I do and who I am. I love my dogs, play with them, keep them warm and healthy and fed but I demand full compliance in return.

Back to the page that has my face all over it! Take a look at it, agree with it, like it, hate it… It makes no difference to me at all. The page in itself is a great way to see how Lisa & Jeanie Phillips operate and conduct business. It says nothing about me that is fact but it does in turn tell a great deal about the people whom have created the page, and what their reasons might have been to do so. Check out the screenshots I have included, make up your own minds….